Engage Equitably: Checklists and Messages Templates and Tips for Pandemic and Remote Learning Scenarios

This post originally appeared on our ParentSquare Learning Network blog on November 30, 2020.

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Every school or district is facing some kind of major change that they need to communicate to families, staff, teachers, and students. We recently discovered a trove of K-12 communications resources for district and school leaders that might help with major changes you’re facing, so we are passing them along here to the ParentSquare Learning Network community!

Created with contributions from many K-12 organizations, ENGAGE EQUITABLY: Communication Resources for Schools at a Time of COVID-19 & Beyond provides resources that any school or district can use to help notify their communities and manage change, when faced with COVID-19 developments or shifts in learning scenarios. We hope these resources help you communicate the changes happening at your school or district, brought about by ever-changing COVID-19 developments!

Below  are some examples of the resources provided by Engage Equitably.

Positive COVID-19 Cases and School Closures

Engage Equitably includes detailed “Communication Protocol” checklists for almost any COVID-19 scenario, such as this one for a Student Testing Positive for COVID-19:

You will notice that each step links to an example message template, which you can adapt to your own needs and local requirements! Visit their website to explore similar checklists for other COVID-19 scenarios, including:

• Staff Member Tests Positive

• Student or Staff Exposed to COVID-19

• Investigation in Progress

• Section of School Closes

• Section of School Reopens

Transitioning to a Different Instructional Method

Engaging Equitably also provides Communication Protocols for almost any conceivable change in learning scenarios, including this one for moving from virtual to hybrid:

Here are direct links to the other learning scenarios they support:

• District Hybrid -> In-Person

• District Virtual -> In-Person

• District In-Person -> Hybrid

• District In-Person -> Virtual

• School In-Person -> Virtual

• School In-Person -> Hybrid

• School Hybrid -> In-Person

• School Virtual -> Hybrid

• School Virtual -> In-Person

Let us know what you think of these resources! Do they include steps you might have not thought of? Do the message templates save you time?

We hope you find them useful for you and your school community.

PS: Thank you to Brooklyn Lab Charter School and the Donovan Group for spearheading this initiative and for letting us share these with you.